Type Trays and Antique Watch Faces

 When I went to the last Acorn Show in February, I snapped this shot of enameled watch faces in my friend Cathie's booth ... love them, and at $4 each, they seemed like a great price ...

Then I saw this picture on Instagram ... can we say "LOVE"? Yep, at first glance, and since I had a great antique type tray I had been looking for a use for .... seemed like the perfect match ....

The only flaw in my thinking is that the type tray has 98 compartments, and well, you do the math.  I knew it wasn't going to happen, at least not that way!

So I bought a lot of about 100 watch faces from another dealer at Treasures Antiques for $10, and saved out all the large ones, they weren't old, but watch faces are watch faces, right?

Next I printed off watch faces I found on Pinterest, and glued some to the back of clear glass disks, others I decoupaged on front of wood game disks, still others, I glued onto old celluloid buckles.

Last of all I bought a package of brass Tim Holtz watch faces from Hobby Lobby.

 In the end I just cut out some paper watch faces, and placed them in some of the spots, filling in with a few vintage keys I had on hand.  I figure that I can eventually fill the case and trade out the paper images.

I love how it turned out and thought that it made the perfect backdrop for my robot family!!  

San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden

One of the most delightful sites I saw in San Antonio this week was the Japanese Tea Garden ... The gardens were the genius of a parks commissioner in 1915 as the San Antonio Zoological gardens were established near by.  The scar of a littered former stone quarry site marred the landscape.  Other such sites had been made Into Japanese stye gardens, and the commissioner's desire was that this scar could be healed in like manner.

There was no money in the budget for its development, so prisoner labor was used along with rock shards found on site.  When the gardens were done, it was recognized that they lacked ethnic integrity and a Japanese artist and his family were hired to live at the gardens, and further develop them,  while making Japanese Cuisine available to visitors.

Above is a vintage post card of the gardens .... Which was sometimes called the Sunken Gardens, and during and after WWII was called the Chinese Gardens. 

The gardens are beautiful, even in March ... I am looking forward to seeing them again in June when Mr. P and I drive to Texas for our first First Monday Flea Market in Canton ....

The stone elements are just charming ...

.... And the ponds are full of huge Koi....

It's amazing, and its free to the public .... The Chinese Tea House has seating on the stone patio above the gardens .... What a luxurious experience. 

... And there a small walks around the edges of the gardens ....

I am sure that as I visit my daughter and her family in San Antonio I will have many more opportunities to visit this garden treasure! Such a lovely thought.

Historic San Antonio and Pollyanna!

Here I am visiting with my daughters in San Antonio, which of course means a trip to the historic part of town and the Alamo.  I loved seeing the incredible old architecture ...

... And here I am with three of my daughters at the Alamo .... What a wonderful hallowed historic spot. I especially love how these people respect and appreciate their history! 

I also got to introduce my 3year old grandson to the concept of stretched pennies and met this handsome man. 

Loved seeing the five and dime on our way to the River Walk ...

Which was beautiful!

Thought this was a grand building as well.

...and I'm glad to say my daughter Brittany found her niche ... In the outer Alamo Wall .... What a great day, filled with all the things I love best, family, history, beauty and good food!

Emily is the Bestest in the Westest

There's an old saying that says; Grandma's house is the place where cousins go to be friends.  I love that  concept ... But with jobs that transfer sons-in-law out of state ... There has to be another way...

So here we are at the airport reintroducing one year old cousins.

 I had three grand babies born in January, February and March of last year!  Great for kids to have cousins the same age, but unfortunately they live in three different states.  So we made plans to help them get acquainted. Above are Utahan; Reagan and Idahoan; Charlotte on our way to meet cousin William in Texas. 

Neither baby slept on the late night flight designed so babies could sleep ... But neither was fussy either ... We just dealt with the wiggles of one year olds in small spaces!

Now in Texas where Reagan, the oldest of the trio, holds William, the youngest!

Daughter Emily and her generous husband Sam host us all and their son William entertains us with the mystic southern Texas veil dance!

... And Uncle Sam gets acquainted with Charlotte.

Older cousins Titan and Bekie have a reunion too!

My daughter Emily, the hostess with the mostess, manages to shoe horn six guests into her home with a native population of four ... AND serves us homemade sushi the first night!  

Then, after introducing us to amazing Texan Blue Bell ice cream we added two more guests to our party by skypping with my son Spencer and his wife Brittney.

Later Titan improvised party hats for us ... 

There are six more days of family fun coming up!  Thanks Emily!

Antique Mall Booth in White

 After working two days in a row at Treasures Antiques, the mall where I sell my fabulous vintage and antique treasures ... I thought I would share my white booth with you! It is one of 7 booth that I have in the South Building.

So here are some of my white loves ...

I am always hunting white crochet thread, because I love how it looks stacked and gathered.

 More shots from various angels ... the booth is 12 feet by 6 feet and has a cross isle, so I have a 6 foot long display facing the other isle.... lots of space, for lots of white, brown and off white goodness!

I favor white pottery, bird cages, anything old and wire, brides and grooms, clocks, painted furniture and statuary.

 Of course my long days collecting bride and groom wedding cake toppers is showing here ... I can't stop buying them!  But they do sell, slowly, and I love how they looked when collected together.

 I have found that I love mixing in browns, it makes it sort of like a sepia tone monochrome color wise, which I love.  I mean sepia tone means old, right? ... and if you have been reading me for long, you know I LOVE old!

Thanks for coming along for a tour of my white booth ....  and yes, the wreath to the right does need to be moved to a different booth!


.... may your days be blissful and white ....